According to Webmonkey, the tool was originally intended to filter out content farm spam from sites like livestrong.com or Associated Content. But the feature has fell into some disuse since its introduction, and Webmonkey states that it even stopped working for a spell.

Google created a Chrome add-on that replaces the site-blocking functionality, but this obviously requires users who want the feature to use Chrome in the first place. The add-on also filters sites client-side rather than server-side, so users may occasionally get flashes of unwanted results within their searches.

While the site-blocking service is not quite as vaunted as some of the shutdowns Google has mounted recently (rest in peace, belovedGoogle Reader), we’re sure it will be missed by certain parties. Avid users can download their list of blocked sites as a text file.

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Casey Johnston
Casey Johnston is the former Culture Editor at Ars Technica, and now does the occasional freelance story. She graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Applied Physics. Twitter@caseyjohnston

I had no idea this existed, whatsoever, before this article. Now, I'm sad to see it go. A pity. I wonder how much this feature cost Google to implement, that they thought taking the hatchet to it worth it.

I had no idea this existed, whatsoever, before this article. Now, I'm sad to see it go. A pity. I wonder how much this feature cost Google to implement, that they thought taking the hatchet to it worth it.

I wonder if it's pushback from their advertisers/customers that us lowly users are hiding results. Potentially not results that they're explicitly paying for, but maybe the fact that those results are hidden reduces their incentive to do business with Google.

What a coincidence. I was just looking for this earlier today and found out about the closure.

I look for datasheets quite a lot and can't stand all of the links that show up for datasheetarchive.com or other such datasheet collectors.They're so rarely what I want that I'd just rather not see the links at all.

The stage is ready for somebody else to start up a search engine in their garage, and make it just the way that Google was. All the advanced search options are right there, not hidden in menus, and practical features weren't removed or tucked away for the sake of (crappy) aesthetic.

Fucking experts exchange. I was so happy to be rid of it and now it's back.

On the other hand, no thanks to google I have actually become fairly good at figuring out which sites are real and which are just content scrapers based on the URL.

This is an interesting point. When I was in school and we started to use search engines "for real" (late 90's), the teachers hammered it in us to be careful with what search results we would use. Before Google we had to be a lot more careful, and we had to do some pretty precise searches to get what we wanted. And often it actually involved "searching", now we just click one of the first five results and if we don't get what we want we ask someone else instead.

I would have used this tool (and now be lamenting its loss) had I heard of it. Perhaps the low usage was down to Google not adequately promoting it?

calson33 wrote:

Typical - I find out about this when they announce it's being discontinued.

bilditup1 wrote:

I had no idea this existed, whatsoever, before this article. Now, I'm sad to see it go. A pity. I wonder how much this feature cost Google to implement, that they thought taking the hatchet to it worth it.

How did you not notice its existence?

The option to block sites used to be under each search result for the last ~2 years.

I would have used this tool (and now be lamenting its loss) had I heard of it. Perhaps the low usage was down to Google not adequately promoting it?

Likewise.

It should have been a button right next to each search result item. "Never show this again." Simple UI, eminently discoverable, super useful.

I constantly get search results that are filled with useless aggregater links and other useless spam. It is the second biggest failure of Google's search system. (The first is the shopping search that they maimed to make a quick buck.)

blah. More crap from expertsExchange and the like that has the question you're asking, but you must pay for the answer.

Had all those hidden.

Exactly what I came here to post. My searches were so much higher quality, and so much more useful, when I could have some control over what I got back. And yes, expertsExchange was the first (but not the only) to go.

A browser plugin for a browser I don't use is NOT a substitute for a server-side solution. After killing reader, I'm having serious doubts about my relationship with Google, and have no hesitation in telling my less-geeky friends exactly why.

I would have used this tool (and now be lamenting its loss) had I heard of it. Perhaps the low usage was down to Google not adequately promoting it?

calson33 wrote:

Typical - I find out about this when they announce it's being discontinued.

bilditup1 wrote:

I had no idea this existed, whatsoever, before this article. Now, I'm sad to see it go. A pity. I wonder how much this feature cost Google to implement, that they thought taking the hatchet to it worth it.

How did you not notice its existence?

...

The option to block sites used to be under each search result for the last ~2 years.

I used site blocking quite a bit when they first released it, and after I got about 20 sites in there (expertSexExchange, bigresource, etc) I really never had to add any more sites to it... I hope they didn't interpret that as "people stopped using it..."